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SANCTIONS COMING RIGHT UP

The Story

What are you talking about?

For years, North Korea's been busy adding to its missile collection. And working towards building a nuclear version that could reach the US. Last month, it tested a nuclear missile with the potential to hit cities like LA and Chicago. That got China's attention.

What does China have to do with it?

China is North Korea's main ally and trading partner. Usually, it's team North Korea when it comes to any international efforts to punish the country. But with the country ramping up weapons testing, the US has turned up the heat to get China to do something about it.

So what's the latest?

Over the weekend, the UN passed new sanctions against North Korea. And China voted 'aye.' The sanctions ban North Korea from selling its iron, coal, lead, and seafood on the international market. That's expected to cut the country's piggy bank by around $1 billion – about a third of its export income. These are some of the harshest sanctions against any country in years. Yesterday, China joined in by telling North Korea to accept the sanctions and cool it on the missile flexing. But North Korea tends to push ignore on sanctions like these. This morning, NK responded by saying it will launch "thousands-fold" revenge against the US. Comforting.

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Having China on board helps the international community's fight against a nuclear North Korea. And it came during the same weekend as the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, a very real example of the dangers of nuclear war.

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Saga almost over. Last week, everyone's least favorite pharma exec Martin Shkreli was found guilty of securities fraud. Shkreli became public enemy #1 back in 2015 after raising the price of an AIDS drug from $13.50 a pill to a casual $750. But that was all just his warm up act. Turns out, Shkreli was also running a Ponzi scheme as a hedge fund manager, stealing millions of dollars from investors. Now he could face up to 20 years in prison. Shkreli says he doubts he'll get anywhere near that and that he's thinking of appealing.

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Something seems off here. Over the weekend, Paul Kagame — the president of Rwanda — was re-elected. By almost 99% of the vote. Kagame's already been in power for 17 years. But back in 2015, lawmakers signed off on letting him tack on a few extra terms. Now he could be keeping the presidential seat warm until 2034. Kagame's the guy responsible for ending the Rwandan genocide in the late '90s that killed around 800,000 people. He's also put in place economic policies that have brought stability and growth to the country since then. But some people say Kagame is running an authoritarian regime. And that winning by almost 99% looks a liiiiittle suspicious. Rwanda isn't the only African country going to the polls. This week, Kenya will elect a new leader. But the country doesn't have a great track record for peaceful elections. After the vote in '07, violent protests broke out between ethnic groups and more than 1,000 people were killed. And just last week, a senior Kenyan election official was found dead, making a lot of people say 'this isn't good.' The country has its fingers crossed this upcoming election goes down peacefully.

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It never stops. Yesterday, the Venezuelan gov arrested at least seven men and killed two others in what its calling a terrorist attack against President Maduro. The men were dressed in military uniforms and raided a military base after a video went viral, calling for an uprising against the gov. For the past few years, Venezuela's been in economic crisis sparked by a combination of rock-bottom oil prices and government mismanagement. That's led to a lack of basic food and necessities. At the same time, Maduro's been chipping away at the country's democratic institutions, making it look more like a dictatorship. And leading to years of anti-gov protests. Then last week, Venezuela elected a new legislative body to rewrite the constitution. Maduro says this is the last chance for restoring peace. But voter turnout was low because critics – in Venezuela and abroad – say it was just another one of Maduro's attempts to keep himself in power. And now this. It's unclear if the attackers from yesterday's incident were actually soldiers. But it's raising some questions about whether the president is starting to lose even the military's support. The drama continues.

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THING TO KNOW

A legal synthetic opioid aka painkiller. And part of what's fueling America's drug epidemic. It's extremely powerful, so even small amounts can lead to fatal overdoses. What's worse: it's also often mixed in with heroin or cocaine without people realizing. What else is causing the opioid crisis? Get your full Skimm over here.